Lighter

ABSTRACT

A flame adjustment mechanism for a lighter utilizing liquefied gas as a fuel wherein a resiliently biased actuating member for the lighter is provided with an aperture therein. In a first inoperative position the actuating member shields the flame adjustment mechanism to preclude access to the flame adjustment mechanism and in a second operative position the flame adjustment mechanism is accessible through the aperture.

United States Patent [1 1 Sampson LIGHTER inventor: Peter Steer Sampson, Wimbledon,

London SW 19, England Ronson Corporation, Woodbridge, NJ

Filed: Sept. 6, 1972 'Appl. No.: 286,735

Assig'nee:

US. (:1. .1 431/142, 431 344 Int. Cl. F231] 2/00 Field of Search 431/130, 131, 142,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS I 3,637,334 1/1972 Schlamp 431/344 1451 Sept. 18,1973

3,263,456 8/l966 Dexter 431/131 Primary Examiner-Carroll B. Dority, Jr. Attorney-Lewis H. Eslinger 6 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures 1 /3Z'/ 34 r N l\\i W Z5 )0 42 I PAIENIED 3. 759,656

sum a nr 2 LIGHTER fied petroleum gas such as butane.

Such lighters generally have an adjustermechanism which allows manual control of the burner valve for effecting adjustment of the flame height. A danger with such lighters is that the flame height adjuster may be moved accidentally while the lighter is being carried in a handbag or pocket. This inadvertent movement of the flame height adjuster can give rise to an unexpectedly high flame when the lighter is next used and it is possible that this may cause injury.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a gas lighter in which the risk of inadvertent adjustment of flame height is obviated.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a gas lighter construction wherein the burner flame height adjustment mechanism is effectively shielded when the lighter is in an inoperative state and is readily accessible to vary the flame height only when the lighter is placed in an operative state.

According to the invention there is provided a lighter which utilizes a readily vaporized fuel such as butane. The lighter includes a burner, and a resiliently biased actuating member which is movable from an inoperative position to an operative position. The lighter also includes a flame height adjuster which controls the burner to vary the flame height and the flame height adjuster has an operating arm extending from the burner. The free end of the operating arm of the flame height adjuster is shielded by the actuating member when the actuating member is in its inoperative position and is positioned behind and adjacent to an opening in the member. When the actuating member is moved to its operative position, the operating arm of the flame height adjuster becomes accessible in the opening for ease of manual adjustment of the flame height. With this arrangement the end of the operating arm is normally shielded by the actuating member so that accidental movement of the arm while the lighter is being carried is precluded.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention the end of the operating arm protrudes through an openingin the form of a slot in the actuating member when this member is in its operative position. The flame height adjuster may be a part of the burner valve which is rotatable about the axis of the valve in which casethe end of the operating arm will be movable within the slot in the actuating member. Other forms of flame height adjuster may be used in which case provi-' sion is made for an appropriate movement of the end of the operating arm, for example a movement which is towards or away from the actuating member.

The actuating member may extend along one side of the lighter in the direction of the axis of the burner valve in which case, if the adjuster is rotatable, the operating arm may be straight and extend from the adjuster towards the opening in the actuating member.

The actuating member may alternatively extend along the top of the lighter in a direction transverse to the axis of the burner valve in which case they operatingarm may be cranked so that the free end'extends towards the actuating member.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be more readily apparent after consideration of the following specification with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view partly in section of a lighter constructed in accordance with the present invention shown in an inoperative condition;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the lighter of FIG. 1 shown in an operative condition;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 1 showing the lighter in an operative condition; y

FIG. 4 is an elevational view partly in section of another embodiment of the lighter constructed in accordance with the present invention shown in an inoperative condition;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the lighter of FIG. 4 shown in an operative condition; and

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the lighter of FIGS. 4 and 5.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, the lighter 10 includes a case 12 which houses a container 14 for a readily vaporized fuel such as liquid butane. The lighter is operated by squeezing an actuating lever 16, which is pivotally mounted within case 12as at 18, from the inoperative position shown in FIG. I to the operative position shown in FIG. 2. The actuating lever 16 is substantially channel shaped in cross-section and includes an end wall 20 and side walls 22 with the lower portion of the lever fitting within a recessin case 12 when the lever is pivoted into the operative position. The lever 16 is resiliently biased to the inoperative position by a spring (not shown).

Movement of the lever 16 to the operative position causes a curved plate 24 extending from lever 16 to engage and lift a fork 26 which raises a hollow valve stem 28 in a burner valve 30 of standard construction, thereby opening the valve to allow vaporized butane to emerge through the stem28 and flow through an access hole 32 in the top wall 34 of the lighter case 12. At the same time, movement of the lever 16 operates a mech anism (not shown) to ignite the gas and produce the required flame.

The height of the flame is controlled by a flame height adjustment mechanism 36 which forms part of the burner valve 30. Rotation of the adjustment mechanism 36 about the longitudinal axis of the burner valve controls the valve opening to control the flow of fuel gas through the valve. An operating arm 38 extends from the mechanism 36 and includes a projecting end 40. Movement of the end 4 1) to left or right as seen in FIG. 3 turns the adjustment mechanism 36 and thus controls the flame height.

An access slot 42 is provided in end wall 20 of lever 16 and the end 40 of operating am 38 is located behind slot 42. With the lever in the inoperative position shown in FIG. 1 the end 40 of the operating arm is beneath the surface of the lever and is effectively shielded from access from outside the lighter. Thus, there is little likelihood that the adjustment mechanism will be turned by inadvertent movement of arm 38 when the lighter is being carried to alter the flame height adjustment.

When the lever 16 is depressed into an operative position the end 40 of the operating arm 38 projects I through slot 42 in lever 16 to permit manual adjustwherein the same reference numerals are used for like parts. In this embodiment, instead of the actuating lever 16 being along the side of the lighter case 12 it is situated along the top of the case and is pressed downwardly to actuate the lighter. The lever 16 is pivoted at 18 and is resiliently biased by a spring (not shown) to the inoperative position shown in FIG. 4. The burner valve 30 of the lighter is again opened by raising the valve stem 28 by means of an angularly offset lift fork member 44 which in this embodiment is pivoted as at 46. The offset segment 48 of lift fork 44 is depressed by a projection 50 depending from lever 16 to pivot the lift fork about pivot 46 and raise valve stem 28. The adjustment mechanism 36 is similar to that of the embodiment described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. However, instead of being straight the operating arm 52 is bent at right angles so that the free end 54 is directed upwardly parallel to the longitudinal axis of the burner valve 30. The lever 16 again has a slot 42 through which the end 54 of operating arm 52 projects when the lighter is actuated as shown in FIG. 5. With the lighter in the inoperative, carrying, condition shown in FIG. 4 the end 54 of operating arm 52 is shielded by the lever 16. Thus, again, inadvertent operation of the adjuster mechanism 36 is unlikely.

In addition the lever 16 is formed with an access hole 56 through which fuel gas emerging from the burner valve 30 passes and this hole corresponds to the hole 32 of the embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 3.

It is thus seen that the present invention provides a lighter construction where the flame height adjustment mechanism is effectively shielded to preclude inadvertent alteration of the flame height setting when the lighter is in an inoperative state.

What is claimed is:

1. A gas fueled lighter comprising a lighter case, a burner valve operatively associated with a fuel storage container within said case, an actuating member movable from a first position wherein said lighter is inoperative to a second operative position wherein said actuating member actuates said lighter, said burner valve including an adjustment mechanism to control the flow of a gaseous fuel through said valve thereby to vary the height of the flame of the lighter, said adjustment mechanism including an operating arm disposed within said case extending from said adjustment mechanism and movable to control said adjustment mechanism, said actuating member including means shielding said operating arm from access precluding adjustment of said burner valve when said actuating member is in said first position and means on said actuating member allowing access to said operating arm when said actuating member is in said second operative position.

2. A lighter as defined in claim 1 wherein said actuating member includes an opening therein and said operating arm is disposed adjacent said opening, said actuating member being oriented such that when said actuating member is in said first position a free end of said operating arm is disposed beneath the surface of said actuating member thereby precluding access to said operating arm and when said actuating member is in said second position said operating arm free end is disposed within said opening and accessible from exterior the lighter for manual adjustment.

3. A lighter as defined in claim 2 wherein said adjustment mechanism is a part of the burner valve and is rotatable about the axis of the burner valve.

4. A lighter as defined in claim 3 wherein said actuating member extends along a side of the lighter case in the direction of the axis of the burner valve and the said operating arm isstraight and extends towards said opening formed as a slot in said actuating member.

5. A lighter as defined in claim 3 wherein said actuating member extends along the top of the lighter case in a direction transverse to the axis of the burner valve and said operating arm is an L-shaped member having one leg segment extending parallel to the burner valve axis and upwardly towards said opening formed as a slot in said actuating member.

6. A lighter as defined in claim 2 wherein said actuating member is formed as a lever which is pivotally connected at one end to said case with the other end of said lever adapted to move into the case when the member is moved into its operative position. 

1. A gas fueled lighter comprising a lighter case, a burner valve operatively associated with a fuel storage container within said case, an actuating member movable from a first position wherein said lighter is inoperative to a second operative position wherein said actuating member actuates said lighter, said burner valve including an adjustment mechanism to control the flow of a gaseous fuel through said valve thereby to vary the height of the flame of the lighter, said adjustment mechanism including an operating arm disposed within said case extending from said adjustment mechanism and movable to control said adjustment mechanism, said actuating member including means shielding said operating arm from access precluding adjustment of said burner valve when said actuating member is in said first position and means on said actuating member allowing access to said operating arm when said actuating member is in said second operative position.
 2. A lighter as defined in claim 1 wherein said actuating member includes an opening therein and said operating arm is disposed adjacent said opening, said actuating member being oriented such that when said actuating member is in said first position a free end of said operating arm is disposed beneath the surface of said actuating member thereby precluding access to said operating arm and when said actuating member is in said second position said operating arm free end is disposed within said opening and accessible from exterior the lighter for manual adjustment.
 3. A lighter as defined in claim 2 wherein said adjustment mechanism is a part of the burner valve and is rotatable about the axis of the burner valve.
 4. A lighter as defined in claim 3 wherein said actuating member extends along a side of the lighter case in the direction of the axis of the burner valve and the said operating arm is straight and extends towards said opening formed as a slot in said actuating member.
 5. A lighter as defined in claim 3 wherein said actuating member extends along the top of the lighter case in a direction transverse to the axis of the burner valve and said operating arm is an L-shaped member having one leg segment extending parallel to the burner valve axis and upwardly towards said opening formed as a slot in said actuating member.
 6. A lighter as defined in claim 2 wherein said actuating member is formed as a lever which is pivotally connected at one end to said case with the other end of said lever adapted to move into the case when the member is moved into its operative position. 